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Botswana gets first test results on elephant deaths

Botswana received its first test results on Friday (July 10) to find out why hundreds of elephants have died mysteriously.

Authorities said they will share their findings next week, when they get more results from samples sent to South Africa.

Wildlife officials want to determine what has killed the elephants about two months after the first bodies were found.

They have ruled out poaching and anthrax.

Officials said Thursday (July 9) they had found 281 elephant carcasses.

They were discovered in an area of 8,000 square km that is home to about 18,000 of the animals.

While the dead only make up a small fraction of Botswana's estimated 130,000 elephants, there are fears more could die if authorities can't establish the cause of death soon.